For nearly 40 innings this past week, I needed to count to one, instead of 71 –  the votes needed to pass a bill in the House of Delegates.

        I’m a catcher.  If I put down one finger and the pitcher agrees, he will throw a fastball.  If he doesn’t like my pitch selection, I will put down two fingers for a curve ball and three for a slider.

         In the Fantasy Camp championship game yesterday, I caught eight innings.  Neither of my pitchers shook me off because he disagreed with my pitch selection. 

          We won, 8-7. 

          I didn’t reach base, nor did I tag a runner out at the plate in a crucial situation, as I had earlier in the week. 

            But it’s a team game, and my bobble head trophy is now displayed in my Annapolis office.         

            Speaking of sport, horse racing was the subject of the committee briefing today.

            Penn National has an ownership interest in two thoroughbred tracks, Pimlico and Laurel, and a harness track, Rosecroft, that it just bought in bankruptcy court. 

            Its principal business, however, is slots.

            So I asked this question of a witness:

               Can Penn National’s slots license be made contingent upon its performing certain acts as the holder of a racing license, such as running a minimum number of racing dates at Laurel and Pimlico?

            I also emailed the same question to the Attorney General’s Office.

 February 3